Vehicle identification system and method

ABSTRACT

A vehicle identification system includes one or more displays associated with a vehicle, and a network-accessible controller. The one or more displays are located to be visible from an exterior of the vehicle. The controller is adapted to generate a first signal with an identifier to be transmitted to a mobile communication device associated with a vehicle or its driver in response to a ride request from a user. The mobile communication device associated with the vehicle or its driver is adapted to generate a second signal indicative of the identified to be transmitted to one or more displays. The controller is also adapted to generate a further signal for displaying an advertisement on the one or more displays.

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method forvehicle identification. More particularly, the present invention relatesto a system adapted to provide an indicator on a mobile communicationdevice of a user having requested a ride service to allow the user toidentify a vehicle prior to boarding the vehicle.

2. Related Art

The rapid technological advances in the Internet, mobile communicationstechnologies, and social networking have opened up opportunities fortech-enabled transportation services and transportation networkcompanies (“TNC”) that provide on-demand transportation. In oneride-hailing model, drivers and riders use mobile phones connected to aweb service to arrange rides. Before riding with UBER, for example,customers are required to create an account with their personal andpayment information, and rides can only be requested through theapplication.

To varying degrees, TNC's and on-demand transportation service providersemploy ideas from social networking, reputation systems, and GlobalPositioning System (GPS) tracking to provide service. Although thesecompanies may appear to be taxi companies to riders, they are actuallydispatching services which serve both riders and drivers.

Technology-enabled transportation services, such as UBER and LYFT, mayhelp to improve the public's transportation options. Expanding theavailability of on-demand transportation modes and technology-enabledtools may give more people the freedom to live “car-free” or “car-light”lifestyles—avoiding the cost of owning, insuring, maintaining andgaraging a private vehicle. Especially in view of those individuals whodo not and/or are not able to drive.

There are numerous barriers that have prevented people from usingnon-driving modes of transportation. Public transportation use, forexample is often limited by perceptions of personal security in publictransportation travel. Rider safety is fundamental to the continuedsuccess of transportation services, but driver safety has also become anissue.

A continuing need exists for systems and methods adapted for use bytransportation services to ensure rider and driver security.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, vehicle identificationsystems and methods are provided. The vehicle identification systemincludes one or more displays associated with a vehicle, and anetwork-accessible controller. The one or more displays are located tobe visible from an exterior of the vehicle. The controller is adapted togenerate a first signal to be transmitted to a mobile communicationdevice associated with a driver of the vehicle when it is determinedthat the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of a specificlocation.

The mobile communication device associated with the driver is adapted togenerate a second signal to be transmitted to the one or more displays.The second signal represents an indicator. In addition, the controlleris further adapted to receive an ad request signal from the mobilecommunication device associated with the driver, and transmit a responsesignal in response to the ad request signal.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofidentifying a vehicle dispatched to a location of a user havingrequested a ride from a transportation service is provided. The methodincludes: when it is determined that the vehicle is within apredetermined distance of the location of the user, generating anotification signal to a mobile communication device associated with thedriver; generating an indicatory signal representing an indicator inresponse to receiving the notification signal; and displaying, on adisplay associated with the vehicle, the indicator based on thenotification signal. The display is located to be visible from theexterior of the vehicle. The method also includes: displaying theindicator on a mobile communication device associated with the user; andidentifying the vehicle based on appearance of a match between theindicator being displayed on the mobile communication device associatedwith the user and the indicator being displayed on the displayassociated with the vehicle. The method also includes: receiving an adrequest signal from the mobile communication device associated with thedriver, and transmitting a response signal in response to the ad requestsignal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Objects and features of the presently-disclosed systems and methods forvehicle identification will become apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art when descriptions of various embodiments thereof are readwith reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1A is a diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary system forvehicle identification in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 1B is a diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary system forvehicle identification in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is schematic illustration of the system for vehicleidentification of FIG. 1A servicing multiple riders in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of identifying avehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of displayingadvertising in a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary advertisement for display in accordance withthe method of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of a system and method for vehicleidentification are described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. Like reference numerals may refer to similar or identicalelements throughout the description of the figures.

This description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” “inembodiments,” “in some embodiments,” or “in other embodiments,” whichmay each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments inaccordance with the present disclosure.

As used herein, the term “controller” may include any type of computingdevice, computational circuit, or any type of processor or processingcircuit capable of executing a series of instructions that are stored ina memory associated with the controller. As it is used herein, “mobilecommunication devices” generally refers to any portable wireless device.In one instance, the mobile communication device has one or moreprocessors and memory capability.

Examples of mobile communications devices include, without limitation,cellular (cell) and mobile telephones, smart mobile telephones, mobilee-mail devices, digital personal assistances, wearable devices, etc.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide vehicleidentification systems and methods adapted to provide an indicator on amobile communication device of a user having requested a ride service toallow the user to identify a vehicle prior to boarding the vehicle.Various embodiments of the presently-disclosed vehicle identificationsystems and methods are adapted to provide a notification signal foractivating a driver's mobile communication device or another mobilecommunication device associated with the vehicle to generate a signalrepresenting an indicator, whereby the indicator is displayed on adisplay visible from the exterior of the vehicle. The indicator mayadditionally, or alternatively, be displayed on a display associatedwith an article of clothing (e.g., coat or hat) worn by the driverand/or displayed on a remote hand-held display device (e.g., tabletcomputer) held by the driver. The presently-disclosed vehicleidentification systems and methods for vehicle identification may beused in coordination with services that use mobile fleets of vehicles orpersonnel in a variety of scenarios. Vehicle identification systems andmethods described herein may be used in combination with chauffeureddriving services, such as taxi cab providers, car sharing and carservices (e.g., UBER, LYFT, FLYWHEEL), limo services, shuttles (e.g.,airport-operated shuttle buses, door-to-door shuttles), police dispatch,package delivery services (e.g., UPS, FEDEX, couriers, drones), and/ormobile military units. Vehicle identification systems and methodsdescribed herein may be implemented, in whole or in part, as anapplication running as a standalone program or may be embedded intothird-party applications, e.g., UBER, LYFT, etc. Embodiments of thepresently-disclosed vehicle identification system can be implemented assoftware, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. Where acomponent is implemented as software, it can be implemented as astandalone program, but can also be implemented in other ways, forexample, as part of a larger program, as a plurality of separateprograms, as a kernel loadable module, as one or more device drivers oras one or more statically or dynamically linked libraries. Those skilledin the art will readily appreciate that where the presently-disclosedvehicle identification system is implemented in whole or in part insoftware, the software components thereof may be stored on computerreadable media as computer program products. Any form of computerreadable medium may be used in this context, such as magnetic or opticalstorage media. Additionally, software portions of the present inventionmay be instantiated (for example as object code or executable images)within the memory of any programmable computing device.

FIG. 1A shows a vehicle identification system 10 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle identification system10 includes a controller 110, optionally a transceiver 120, and one ormore displays associated with a motor vehicle 20. In the illustrativeembodiment shown in FIG. 1A, a first display 130 is associated with apassenger side rear window 21 of a motor vehicle 20, and a seconddisplay 131 is associated with the front windshield of the motor vehicle20. In some embodiments, the controller 110 may be a computer networkcontroller or a server. In some embodiments, the controller 110 iscommunicatively coupled to the transceiver 120. The transceiver 120 mayconsist of one or more cell phone towers of a tower network. It is to beunderstood that the transceiver 120 may be any device capable ofwireless communication with a mobile communication device associatedwith the vehicle 20 including, for example, a mobile communicationdevice 150 associated with the driver D and/or mobile communicationdevice disposed within the vehicle such as, for example, a WiFi hot spotcommunication device (not shown), as well as a mobile communicationdevice 140 associated with a rider, such as the user P. For example, thetransceiver 120 may consist of satellites instead of land-based celltowers.

The vehicle identification system 10 may be adapted to generate one ormore signals representing an indicator, which may be displayable as a“code” (e.g., a text string or an alphanumeric string), an icon, orother identifier, on the display 130 and on a mobile communicationdevice 140 associated with the user P to enable the user P to identifythe vehicle that he/she has requested for a ride service. Although onedisplay 130 is shown associated with a passenger side rear window 21 ofthe motor vehicle 20, it is to be understood that one or more displays130 may be mounted on or otherwise associated with the front windshield,rear shield, passenger side front window, passenger side rear window,driver side rear window, and/or driver side front window of theride-service vehicle. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat the display may be disposed on other areas of the vehicle, e.g.,door and body panels. Display 130 may be operatively connected to areceiver. As described in more detail below, the vehicle identificationsystem 10 may be adapted to generate a first signal that is transmittedvia the transceiver 120 to a mobile communication device 150 associatedwith the driver, wherein, in response to receiving the first signal, anapplication on the mobile communication device 150 associated with thedriver D generates a second signal 17 representing an indicator 111 thatis transmitted to the display 130.

It is to be understood that the dashed lines indicative of wirelesslinks between various components of the vehicle identification system 10shown in FIG. 1A and the vehicle identification system 11 shown in FIG.1B are merely illustrative and non-limiting examples of wirelessconnections, and that vehicle identification system embodiments of thepresent disclosure may utilize many different configurations of wirelessconnections, some with additional, fewer, or different links thandepicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B. For example, in some embodiments, thedisplay 130 may be adapted to establish a wireless connection with amobile communication device 140 associated with the user P.

A signal from a mobile communication device 140 of a user P may beprovided to a taxi cab service, in order to have a taxi driver Ddispatched to the location of the user P. A signal from a user's mobilecommunication device 140 may be provided to a car service, e.g., theUBER service, in order to have a driver from the service dispatched tothe location of the user P. Those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that various different transportation services, e.g., UBER,LYFT, limos and any other kind of ride service, may be requested by theuser P. Once a ride service has been requested by the user P, a requestmay be sent to the user P to download an application to the user'smobile communication device 140. The application may be adapted toreceive an indicatory signal and display an indicator, as described inmore detail below, and may provide other functionality, e.g., a panicbutton for sending to law enforcement and/or emergency servicesproviders information related to the mobile communication device 140including its location, information about the user P associated with themobile communication device 140, and/or information recorded by themobile communication device 140 during and subsequent to the time thepanic button is activated. It is to be understood that although variouscomponents are illustrated and described above as separate entities,each illustrated component represents a collection of functionalitieswhich can be implemented as software, hardware, firmware or anycombination of these.

The controller 110 may generate a first signal (also referred to hereinas a “notification signal”) that is transmitted via the transceiver 120to the mobile communication device associated with the vehicle includinga mobile communication device installed within the vehicle or a mobilecommunication device 150 associated with the driver D. In someembodiments, the vehicle identification system 10 is adapted to generatea notification signal once the vehicle 20 approaches the pickuplocation, e.g., within a predetermined distance based on GPS location.Preferably, the predetermined distance is a suitable distance to providethe user P an opportunity to view the display 130 as the vehicle 20approaches the pickup location. In an embodiment, the predetermineddistance is approximately one quarter mile from the pickup location. Inother embodiments, the vehicle identification system 10 may be adaptedto generate a notification signal once the vehicle 20 arrives at thepickup location.

In some embodiments, in response to receiving the notification signal,an application on the mobile communication device 150 associated withthe driver D generates a second signal 17 (also referred to herein as an“indicatory signal”) representing an indicator. The indicatory signal 17transmitted by the mobile communication device 150 may be received bythe display 130 and/or a receiver operatively associated therewith.Responsive to receiving the indicatory signal 17, the display 130displays the indicator 111. The indicatory signal 17 representative ofindicator 111 transmitted by the driver's mobile communication device150 may additionally, or alternatively, be received by the mobilecommunication device 140 associated with the user P. In someembodiments, as shown for example in FIG. 1A, a second indicatory signal19 representative of the indicator 111 is transmitted by the driver'smobile communication device 150 to the mobile communication device 140associated with the user P. Responsive to receiving the indicatorysignal 19, the mobile communication device 140 displays the indicator111.

FIG. 1B shows a vehicle identification system 11 in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle identification system11 is similar to the vehicle identification system 10 shown in FIG. 1A,except for the configuration of the wireless links. As seen in FIG. 1B,vehicle identification system 11 is adapted to generate an indicatorysignal 14 to be transmitted to the mobile communication device 140associated with the user P and a notification signal 15 to betransmitted to the mobile communication device associated with thevehicle including, for example, the mobile communication device 150associated with the driver D. In this embodiment the driver's mobilecommunication device 150 does not communicate with the user's mobilecommunication device 140, being an accommodation for users who prefer tocommunicate directly with the dispatching service, rather than thedriver D.

In an illustrative example wherein a dispatched vehicle 20 arrives atthe pickup location and waits for the user P who requested the rideservice, the vehicle 20 may be parked by itself or parked among othersimilar and/or not similar vehicles. When the user P who requested theride service approaches the pickup area, in order to locate his/her ridethe user P need only visually observe a vehicle 20 with the display 130displaying the indicator 111 that is a match to the indicator 111 (e.g.,A22 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) being displayed on the user's mobilecommunication device 140. Once the user P has identified the vehicle 20,the user P may be requested to show the indicator 111 displayed onhis/her mobile communication device 140 to the driver D, e.g., to allowthe driver D to verify that he/she is picking up the person who actuallyrequested the ride service. In an alternative embodiment, the controller110 may generate the indicator upon receiving a signal indicative of aride request independent of the distance of the vehicle 20 to the userP. The generated indicator, may be unique for a geographic regionproximate the pickup location and/or for a corresponding period of timeafter receiving the signal indicative of a ride request or relative to ascheduled pickup time.

In some embodiments, the indicator 111 may be a “code” such as analphanumeric string, e.g., A22, B11, C44, and so on. Preferably, thecode would not be duplicated in the same pickup location. In someembodiments, when the driver D turns on the fare meter, the code (orother indicator) is deleted. If there is a need for the driver D to pickup another person, when the driver D approaches the second location (orthird location, etc.), the vehicle identification system 10 may generateanother notification signal. Alternatively, the vehicle identificationsystem 10 may be adapted to allow the driver to enter a command on thedriver's mobile communication device 150 so that another code (or otherindicator) can be generated for the next rider who is going to share thesame vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle identification system 10may be adapted to allow the user P who originally requested the rideservice that was picked up at the first location to text the code, orotherwise send the indicator, to another person who is going to sharethe ride.

It is to be understood that multiple drivers and vehicles may bedispatched to the same or different locations, e.g., concurrently orsequentially, and the vehicle identification system 10 (and/or thevehicle identification system 11) may generate any number ofnotification signals. In an illustrative embodiment of the vehicleidentification system 10 shown in FIG. 3, four ride service requestsVEHICLE REQUEST-A, VEHICLE REQUEST-B, VEHICLE REQUEST-C, and VEHICLEREQUEST-D are received from four users (also referred to herein as“riders”) for pickup. The controller 110 generates four differentnotification signals, NOTIFICATION-A, NOTIFICATION-B, NOTIFICATION-C,and NOTIFICATION-D, to be transmitted by the transceiver 120 to a firstDRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150A, a second DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150B, athird DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150C, and a fourth DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE150D, respectively.

As seen in FIG. 2, in response to receiving the NOTIFICATION-A the firstDRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150A transmits an indicatory signal CODE-A to theDISPLAY PANEL 130A, in response to receiving the NOTIFICATION-B thesecond DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150B transmits an indicatory signal CODE-Bto the DISPLAY PANEL 130B, in response to receiving the NOTIFICATION-Cthe third DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150C transmits an indicatory signalCODE-C to the DISPLAY PANEL 130C, and in response to receiving theNOTIFICATION-D the fourth DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150D transmits anindicatory signal CODE-D to the DISPLAY PANEL 130D.

In some embodiments, wherein the vehicle identification system 10 isutilized, the first RIDER'S MOBILE DEVICE 140A may receive theindicatory signal CODE-A from the first DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150A, thesecond RIDER'S MOBILE DEVICE 140B may receive the indicatory signalCODE-B from the second DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150B, the third RIDER'SMOBILE DEVICE 140C may receive the indicatory signal CODE-C from thethird DRIVER'S MOBILE DEVICE 150C, and the fourth RIDER'S MOBILE DEVICE110D may receive the indicatory signal CODE-D from the fourth DRIVER'SMOBILE DEVICE 150D. In other embodiments, wherein the vehicleidentification system 11 is utilized, an indicatory signal to therider's mobile communication device may be generated by the controller110.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method of identifying a vehiclebeing dispatched to a location of a user having requested a ride from atransportation service in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. At block 310, when it is determined that the vehicle 20 iswithin a predetermined distance of the location of the user P, anotification signal 15 is generated to a mobile communication device 150associated with the driver D.

At block 320, an indicatory signal 17 representing an indicator 111 isgenerated in response to receiving the notification signal 15. However,it should be readily understood that the identifier 111 may generated bythe controller 110 at any time after the controller receives a signalassociated with a ride request.

At block 330, an indicator 111 based on the indicatory signal 17 isdisplayed on a display 130 associated with the vehicle 20. The display130, 131 is located to be visible on the exterior of the vehicle 20,

At block 340, the indicator 111 is displayed on a mobile communicationdevice 140 associated with the user P.

At block 350, the vehicle 20 is identified based on appearance of amatch, by visual observation of the user P, between the indicator 111being displayed on the mobile communication device 140 associated withthe user P and the indicator 111 being displayed on the display 130, 131associated with the vehicle 20.

In an alternative aspect of the present disclosure, the controller 110may transmit the indicatory signal signals 14 and/or 15 in an encryptedor coded manner to add a further level of security.

In a further alternative aspect of the present disclosure, anadvantageous additional level of security to the rider, i.e., user P,and driver D may also be added by the method 300 by including a furtherstep in which, for example, the notification signal (indicating that thevehicle and rider are at the pickup location) is generated by either ofthe mobile communication device of the rider 140 or the mobilecommunication device of the vehicle 150, and transmitted to thecontroller 110 based on receiving information from the other of themobile communication devices 150 or 140, wherein the receivedinformation is indicative of the identifier. Such additional stepadvantageously provides a means of dual verification of the driver D anduser P. In one exemplary embodiment, the mobile communication device 140or 150 receiving the information from the other mobile communicationdevice 150 or 140 by sensing an image using, for example, a camera ofthe receiving mobile communication device 140 or 150 to sense a producedimage (indicative of the identifier) on a display of the other mobilecommunication device 150 or 140. Such produced image may be theidentifier, or a code representing the identifier such as, for example,a bar code or quick response (QR) code.

In response to receiving the notification signal containing identifierinformation from the mobile communications devices 140 and 150, thecontroller 110 may process such identifier information to verify thatthe rider P has found the proper and intended vehicle 20. If the resultof such processing provides such verification, the controller maytransmit a verification signal to at least one of the mobilecommunications devices 140 and 150. In addition, in response to receiptof such a verification signal, the mobile communication devices 150 maytransmits a signal to the display 131 to provide an indication to therider and driver that rider have been verified. Such indication providedby the display 131 may be, for example, a change in a displayed images,generated sound, e.g., ringing sound, music or voice message, or theillumination of lights associated with the display 131. It should bereadily understood that alternatively the mobile communication device140 or 150 receiving the information from the other mobile communicationdevice 150 or 140 may process such information to perform theverification instead of the controller 110, and then communicate whetherverification was successful to the controller 110.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure providing dualverification, the mobile communication device 140 or 150 receiving theinformation (indicative of the identifier) from the other mobilecommunication device 150 or 140 receives such information in the form ofa signal, such as an electrical or optical signal, transmitted by suchother mobile communication device 150 or 140. Suitable signals for usein such embodiment include, for example, signals compliant withBluetooth®, Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication and Zigbee wirelesscommunication standards. In yet another exemplary embodiment, therider's mobile communication device 140 transmits the notificationsignal further based on receiving additional information associated withthe vehicle 20 by, for example, detecting a code, such as a bar code orQR code, disposed within the vehicle 20 with the controller 110confirming that the detected vehicle code corresponds to the indicatorassociated with correct ride request. Upon receiving the notificationsignal that the vehicle 20 and rider (user P) are at the pickup locationcontaining the received information, the controller 110 may process suchinformation to verify that the rider (user P) has located or entered thecorrect vehicle 20, and transmit an associated verification signal.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, thevehicle identification system 10, 11 may be advantageously operated tosupport the display of advertisements via the one or more displays 130that are provided on the motor vehicle 20. In accordance with thepositioning of the displays 130, ads are thereby presented to enableviewing by primarily by individuals located externally to the vehicle 20(for example, on a sidewalk adjacent to a street on which the vehicle 20is parked, moving or stopped at a stop sign).

By way of example, FIG. 4 presents a flowchart illustrating one methodfor displaying one or more ads on one or more of the displays 130, insuch manner to avoid interference or conflict with embodiments of thepresent disclosure directed to identify a vehicle 20 to a user once thevehicle 20 reaches a user location.

The method depicted in FIG. 4 may, for example, be performed by thedriver's mobile device 150 in combination with the one or more of thedisplays 130. The ad request of block 406 may be directed by the mobiledevice 150 via the transceiver 120 to the controller 110, oralternatively to an ad server in communication with the transceiver 120.Alternatively, the ad request may be directed to the controller 110 andforwarded to an ad server in communication with the transceiver 120 oran alternate transceiver in communications with the driver's mobiledevice 150. In this case, the controller 110 may preferably in additiontransmit a confirmatory signal to the driver's mobile device 150 toindicate that the request has been forwarded. At block 408, thecontroller 110 or alternative ad server may then direct an ad to betransmitted to the driver's mobile device 150 in response to receivingthe ad request of block 406.

As depicted at block 402 in FIG. 4, and with reference to block 310 ofFIG. 3, when it is determined that the vehicle 20 is within apredetermined distance of the user location, and ad display that may beprovided on one or more of the displays 130 is terminated, and thatdisplay 130 is prepared fen displaying the indicator 111 displayed atblock 330 of FIG. 3.

When it is determined at block 404 of FIG. 4 that the user has arrivedat the vehicle 20 (and, for example, has been seated within the vehicle20), the display of the indicator 111 may be terminated so that thedisplay 130 may be prepared for an ad display.

At block 406, an ad request is prepared and transmitted, for example, bythe mobile device 150 via the transceiver 120 to the controller 110, oralternatively to the ad server in communication with the transceiver120. The request may be initiated automatically by the device 150, oralternatively be manually initiated by the driver of the vehicle 120.The request may preferably include or otherwise reference selectioninformation to be used by an ad service to select and provide an ad fordisplay. For example, selection information may include one or more of acurrent vehicle location, vehicle destination, vehicle identification,driver identification, date, day of week, or time of day. Thisinformation may preferably be obtained and or stored by the applicationon the driver's mobile device 150, for example, in conjunction with oneor more of a native Global Positioning System (GPS) application andcalendar and clock applications of the device 150.

In response to the ad request and associated selection information, thead service may proceed to select an ad for display and transmit the advia the transceiver 120 at block 408 for receipt by the driver's mobiledevice 150 and display by at least one of the one or more displays 130.Assisted by the selection information, the ad service may select the ad,for example, based upon the entry of the vehicle into a current ordestinational geographic area (for example, a geofence) assigned to atarget advertiser, on an estimated time duration of the ride, and/ortraditional ad campaign metrics (for example, including a cumulativenumber of showings overall or for the vehicle or driver). The adtransmitted via the transmitter 120 may also preferably includeinformation concerning its intended display. For example, thisinformation may include instructions for starting and concluding the addisplay as a function of time, distance and/or a current vehiclelocation.

Alternatively, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, thead service as administered by the controller 110 or other ad server mayproceed to deliver an ad to the driver's mobile device 150 automaticallyand without receiving an ad request. In this case, a current location ofthe vehicle is continuously tracked (for example by the controller 110),and an ad for delivery to the vehicle may be selected, for example, froman ad queue and as a function of the current location of the vehicle. Inaddition to ads that are selected according to a local presence of theadvertiser (for example, ads that are geo-fenced), ads may be providedfor advertisers and products that have a nationwide or otherwise broadnotoriety and appeal. Ads may be queued, for example, to achieve acontractual agreement for a certain number of plays in certaingeographic regions over a certain period of time. In addition toproviding single ads, a group of ads may be delivered by the controller110 or ad server to the vehicle at the same time serial display.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary ad for display on the one or more displays130. As depicted, for example, the ad presents a logo of the advertiser(“DUNKIN DONUTS”) and a proportional code to be used by a user inredeeming a benefit from the advertiser (for example, a purchasediscount of 15%, or a free donut). The promotional code may preferablybe used to identify one or more of the driver, the vehicle or thetransportation service as a means for the advertiser to gauge theeffectiveness of the ad.

At block 410, the application on the driver's mobile device 150preferably monitors the ad display in view of the instructions. If it isdetermined that the ad has expired in accordance with the instructions,the device 150 returns to block 406 to prepare another ad request fortransmission to the controller 110 or ad server. Alternatively, theinitial request at block 406 may have included a request for at least asecond ad, which may have been transmitted to the device 150 with thefirst ad at original block 408.

At block 412, the driver's mobile device 150 preferably monitors whetherthe vehicle 20 has traveled to within a predetermined distance of alocation of a next user, and if so, returns to block 402 to terminatethe ad on the one or more of displays 130 and prepare the displays 130for displaying the indicator 111 displayed at block 330 of FIG. 3. Atthe conclusion of the ride, or alternatively at the expiry of each ad,the driver's mobile device preferably transmits a confirmatory signal tothe controller 110 or ad server via the transceiver 120 to confirm thatthe requested ad was displayed. The confirmatory signal may preferablyinclude summary display information for displayed ad including, forexample, actual time of display, route and distance information, and/orthe like.

In a further alternative aspect of the present disclosure, thecontroller 110 transmits a display control signal to the mobilecommunication device of the vehicle 150 to further communicate with thedisplay 131 to cause the display to display at least one message, otherthan the indicator, stored in a memory associated with the display 131or the mobile communication device 150. Such message may, for example,be an alert message such as a medical emergency or safety message. Inaddition, such display control signal may control the display 131 toalternatively display for predetermined periods of time the indicatorand other messages such as, for example, stored in a memory associatedwith the display 131 or the mobile communication device 150.

In a still further alternative aspect of the present disclosure, thecontroller receives a requested identifier from either of the mobilecommunication devices 140 and 150, and confirms that the requestedidentifier is unique for a geographic region proximate the pickuplocation at a predetermined time, and then communicates such confirmedrequested identifier to the other of the mobile communication devices150 and 140. If such requested identifier is not unique for at least oneof the geographic region proximate the pickup location or apredetermined time period, the controller 110 then creates a uniqueidentifier for the geographic region proximate the pickup location at apredetermined time.

Although embodiments have been described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings for the purpose of illustration and description,it is to be understood that the disclosed systems and processes are notto be construed as limited thereby. It will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art that various modifications to the foregoingembodiments may be made without departing from the scope of thedisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for a ride shareservice controller, comprising the steps of: receiving from a mobilecommunication device a signal indicative of a ride request for a rider;identifying a mobile communication device associated with a vehicleselected for responding to the ride request; generating an identifierfor the ride request, the identifier being unique for a geographicregion proximate a pickup location of the ride request; transmitting afirst signal representing the identifier to the mobile communicationdevice associated with the vehicle for displaying the identifier on oneor more displays visible from an exterior of the vehicle; transmitting asecond signal representing the identifier to the mobile communicationdevice associated with the rider; receiving a notification signal fromat least one of the mobile communication devices associated with thevehicle or rider that the vehicle and rider are at the pickup location;receiving an ad request signal from the mobile communication deviceassociated with the vehicle; and transmitting a response signal inresponse to the ad request signal.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the response signal is transmitted to the mobilecommunication device associated with the vehicle and comprises anadvertisement for display on at least one of the displays visible fromthe exterior of the vehicle.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein the response signal further comprises instructionalinformation for displaying the advertisement on at least one of thedisplays visible from the exterior of the vehicle.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the response signal istransmitted by an ad server.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim4, wherein the advertisement is selected from an ad queue on the adserver.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, furthercomprising the step of: transmitting a confirmatory signal from themobile communications device associated with the vehicle to the adserver to confirm the advertisement was displayed on at least one of thedisplays visible from the exterior of the vehicle.
 7. The computerimplemented method of claim 5, wherein the confirmatory signal furtherincludes summary display information for the advertisement.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the mobile communicationdevice associated with the vehicle is a mobile communication deviceassociated with a driver of the vehicle.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the identifier is in the form of analphanumeric string.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the identifier is in the form other than an alphanumeric string.11. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising thestep of: determining a destination location of the vehicle anddisplaying the advertisement based upon the destination location of thevehicle.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, furthercomprising the step of: determining a current location of the vehicleand displaying the advertisement based upon the current location of thevehicle.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein theadvertisement includes a promotional code.
 14. A computer-implementedmethod for a ride share service controller, comprising the steps of:receiving from a mobile communication device a signal indicative of aride request for a rider; identifying a mobile communication deviceassociated with a vehicle selected for responding to the request;generating an identifier for the ride request, the identifier beingunique for a geographic region proximate a pickup location of the riderequest during a period of time; terminating displaying of anadvertisement being displayed on one or more displays visible from anexterior of the vehicle; transmitting a first signal representing theidentifier to the mobile communication device associated with thevehicle for displaying the indicator on at least one of the displaysvisible from an exterior of the vehicle; transmitting a second signalrepresenting the identifier to the mobile communication deviceassociated with the rider; receiving at least one notification signalfrom at least one of the mobile communication devices associated withthe vehicle or rider containing information indicative that the riderhas found the vehicle; processing the information to verify that therider has found the vehicle; and transmitting a third signal to themobile communication device associated with the vehicle, wherein thethird signal comprises an ad signal for displaying an advertisement onat least one of the displays visible from an exterior of the vehicle.15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising thestep of: determining a destination location of the vehicle anddisplaying the advertisement based upon the destination location of thevehicle.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, furthercomprising the step of: determining a current location of the vehicleand displaying the advertisement based upon the current location of thevehicle.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein theadvertisement is selected from an ad queue on an ad server.
 18. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the mobilecommunication device associated with the vehicle is a mobilecommunication device associated with a driver of the vehicle.
 19. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the identifier is inthe form of an alphanumeric string.
 20. The computer-implemented methodof claim 14, wherein the identifier is in the form other than analphanumeric string.